Echoes of a Shattered Soul
by Luckless Irish Nymph
Summary: Edward goes to a strip club and finds Bella, a stripper with a mysterious past that she thinks has damaged her beyond repair. Edward feels he needs to help her. Can he convince her to come with him and leave her old life behind? Or is she lost forever?


**This is my first story, so tell me what you think about it. The character of Bella is slightly based off of Mallory (which happens to be my name, lol) from 'Welcome to the Rileys', but I tried to make her mine as much as possible.**

**Full Summary: Bella's an eight-teen year old stripper. Edward's a doctor, twenty-six years old. One night, Edward goes to a strip club with some friends and finds Bella, a stripper with a mysterious past that she thinks has damaged her beyond repair and isn't worth saving. Edward has some attraction to her, he feels he needs to help her. Will he convince her to come with him and leave her lifestyle? Or is Bella lost to it forever?**

*****Warning*** This story contains drug use, talk of rape, naughty language, violence, and lemons. This isn't fluffy most of the time, it deals with major issues. If any of this bothers you, don't read it or proceed with caution.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. The names belong to Mrs. Meyer, but the plot and back ground of the characters are mine. **

**EPOV- **

I huffed and rolled my head back to rest against the back of the couch.

I had been sitting on Emmett's black leather couch watching him play Halo and inhale popcorn and beer for the past two hours. I was getting impatient waiting for the rest of the guys to show up so that we could leave.

Emmett had been talking about this strip joint 'Breaking Dawn' for weeks. Apparently it was a cheap club that had pretty girls, good 'service', and not much security, so the girls were always pretty 'loose'. I didn't want to go, strip clubs weren't my style, I hadn't been to one since my twenty-first birthday and the guys had dragged me to that as well. The entire time I just sat there drinking, trying to ignore the girls there. My friends thought I was gay after that, but let me tell you, I definitely don't play for the other team. I like women, I just don't like it when they're parading around in there underwear and dancing on poles for dollar bills. It's degrading to women and I wasn't about to be apart of it. My mother taught me old fashioned values I suppose, and having a stripper give you a lap dance wasn't part of those values.

But I was about to make an exception. It was Emmett's bachelor party and he was jumping at the chance to go to 'Breaking Dawn'. So me, Emmett, and all our friends- Jasper, Felix, Demitri and James- are going out to the club.

_This is going to be fun_. Note the sarcasm ladies and gentleman.

"Come on, Eddie, it'll be fun." Emmett whined. Sometimes I wondered how the personality of an eight year old had gotten in the massive body of a twenty-seven year old Emmett.

"Don't call me Eddie and I'm not complaining about going, Em. I'm just not really looking forward to it." I said.

"You don't have to say it, it's written all over your face, man." He laughed as he shut off his X-box.

I was about to make some witty remark when Jasper walked in with the rest of the guys.

"Lets go! I'm ready for some ladies!" Felix bellowed, throwing his arms up in the air. I rolled my eyes but followed everyone out of Emmett's apartment.

"Edward, you got to loosen up. You get to look at nearly naked chicks and drink booze all night. What the hell is wrong with you?" Demitri asked as he slapped me on my back.

"You know I don't like strip clubs." I muttered.

"It's cool Edward, you don't have to….participate. Just sit back and have some drinks, that's what I'll be doing. Most of these fuckers don't have a girl to come home to like Alice." Jasper came to my rescue.

Jasper was always the mellow one out of all of us. He was a stoner throughout high school and most of college, and the relaxed attitude stuck with him even after he quite. It fit him great because his girlfriend, Alice Cullen, my younger sister, is like the energizer bunny with ADHD on crack. She was always jumping around talking a hundred miles an hour about this and that. Jasper somehow didn't mind, actually, I think he enjoyed her hyper personality. They just had a strange relationship, but it worked for them, so I wasn't gonna say anything. If Alice was happy, that's all that mattered to me.

We took Emmett's Jeep because we were all able to pile into it easily. Alec had drawn the short straw so to speak, so he was going to be the designated driver so that we didn't have to take a couple of cabs.

The entire trip there I was mentally preparing myself. I was doing this for Emmett, so the very least I could do was try to have fun.

Let me take a minute to tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Edward Anthony Cullen. I'm the eldest of two children, as I said earlier, Alice is my younger sister. I'm twenty-six years old and following in my father's footsteps, I'm a doctor. I had just finished my residency -thank god, it was like hell- so now I had more flexible hours. And it helped that my father, Carlisle, was Chief of Staff. But I didn't take advantage of it, I never needed to, not really having much of a life outside of the hospital. I didn't have a girlfriend, not for over two years, not since Carmen. Carmen had been my girlfriend all throughout college, she was pretty, smart, nice, got along with my friends, and my parents approved of her. She was everything I could ever ask for. I was going to ask her to marry me after college, until she met another man; Eleazar Denali. She told me she had fallen in love with him and couldn't be with me anymore. I let her go, I knew if she truly loved him, I would let her go, it wasn't my place to keep her with me if she didn't love me anymore.

After that, I hadn't done much dating, choosing to focus on my work. But I had taken a few days off so I could be with the guys, something I haven't done in a long time.

We made it to the club in under thirty minutes, Emmett was a little too exited about all of this if you ask me, he was marrying Rosalie after all., not that I thought Rosalie was all that. Honestly, I thought she was a bit bitchy and vain, but she had her moments when I could see what Emmett saw in her, why he absolutely adored her.

We walked in the club, the bouncer nodding at us and letting us right in as soon as Emmett told him that we were the bachelor party that had booked the VIP section tonight. The club was packed, mostly with older men that were here unbeknownst to their wives. There were half naked women everywhere and the guys were whistling and winking at them all as we passed by, I just shoved my hands in my pockets and tried to block it out. We were escorted to the VIP lounge by a waitress and asked what we wanted to drink, all of us going for beers.

There was a red haired girl on the stage currently, swaying her hips and swinging around her hair, wearing nothing but what looked like a golden bikini. The guys were all zeroed in on her and drooling. I had to admit she was pretty, she had to be to work here, but she wasn't my type.

"Okay men, I'm going down to the stage, anyone with me?" James asked, standing up. Demitri and Felix nodded and followed him, but Em, Jasper, and I stayed where we are.

Two girls, a blonde and a brunette with slightly bushy hair came up to our table. The brunette girl, Jessica she said her name was, sat on Emmett's lap and the blonde, Lauren, was all over me but I politely as possible declined her.

"Oh come on baby, you look a little tense, why don't you come back to a private room with me and I'll help you with." She rubbed her hand up and down my arm and tried to sound sexy, but the way it came out made me want to laugh at her poor attempt.

"No thank you." I said, trying to push her hands off me. I glanced at Jasper for some kind of help but he was just snickering at me. Big help asshole.

She was about to sit in my lap when a very feminine voice called from behind me. "Lauren, he said no, and besides, he already booked a private room with me."

I turned my head to see a beautiful girl with mahogany curls flowing down her shoulders almost to her waist. She was a tiny little thing, about 5'3" and way too skinny if you ask me. She looked so young, not over twenty at the most. Could she even work here legally? Her face was heart shaped with pouty lips that she was biting down on, big doe eyes that were outlined with black eyeliner and had a nice pink blush to her cheeks that didn't look like makeup. Her skin was porcelain white that made her look like a little china doll. I looked further down, she was wearing next to nothing. A bright purple lace baby doll thing that tied between her breasts and flowed down to end at her hips, revealing her flat stomach and you could see her sharp hipbones, she had a matching pair of underwear that looked like a thong.

This girl was beautiful.

She currently had her arms crossed over chest, making her nearly visible breasts jut out and was glaring daggers at Lauren.

"Bella, I didn't know. Sorry." Lauren huffed and stomped away like a chastised child. Thank god, I was feeling suffocated with her trying to climb all over me.

"Thanks for that." I said. She shrugged her shoulders indifferently and held her hand out to me.

"Lauren is still looking over here. If you don't want her to come back to bother you again, you better come with me." She said. I stood up automatically and grabbed her hand. It was small and oh so soft and I felt an odd spark run from where our hands touched to all the way up my arm, like I had been shocked. I barely fought the urge to pull my hand back.

She led me through the crowd, into a hallway painted red and held four doors, tow on each side. She walked up to the first door on the right and unlocked it, pushing it open and pulled me in behind her, shutting the door back up.

"I know I just did this to save you from the clutches of Lauren, but if you want to do anything in here, go right ahead, but no sex." She said, standing in front of me, taping her foot.

"I, um, I don't know." I mumbled.

She smiled at me and stepped forward, putting her hands on my chest.

"Are you shy?" She smiled at me. I was surprised that it didn't sound snarky or mean like other girls normally did. She sounded sweet and honestly curious.

"No, I'm just not a fan of strip clubs. Not my thing. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I mean it is your job, I'm just saying that I don't go to places like this, so I don't really know how to act." I rambled. _Shut up, Edward. Just shut the fuck up. You're making a fool out yourself in front of the beautiful girl. _

"Well, if you want, you don't have to do anything except sit down, normally I do all the work anyway." She said, looking down. The last part I thought I detected a hint of sadness in her voice, but the smile still remained on her face.

"You don't have to." I said.

"Like you said; it's my job. I'll make you feel good." She said, leading me over to a chair, pushing me gently down onto it before I could say anything.

She kneeled down in front of me, placing her hands on my thighs and spreading them just enough so she could fit between them.

"What's your name?" She asked, squeezing my thighs gently. I closed my eyes against the feeling.

"Edward." I breathed out.

She hummed and started running her hands from my knees up to my groin.

"My name's Bella." She murmured.

I vaguely remember that blonde girl Lauren calling her Bella.

"That's pretty." I commented, trying to keep my mind off the amazing feelings she was provoking with all her rubbing.

"Huh, that's definitely something I've never heard in here." Bella muttered under her breath. I was confused, no one ever told her that her name was pretty? I was snapped out of musings when I suddenly felt her hand brush against my cock, pulling my zipper down.

I jumped up, making her fall back on her butt. She was looking up at me with wide eyes and her bottom lip caught between her teeth, with confusion written all over her face.

"What's wrong? Did you want to do something else right now?" She asked me. Her voice sounded so innocent and curious, with a hint of….fear? Was she afraid of me?

"No, you don't have to do that, Bella. I didn't mean to knock you down." I told her reaching my hand down to help her up off the ground. She didn't take my hand, simply staring at it like it was something she'd never seen before.

"Why not? Is something wrong? Did you see another girl out there that you wanted instead? I can go out and get someone else." She suggested.

_Oh no, I definitely want you, Bella._

"No, I just-" I started, but I stopped when she suddenly stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Then what?" She sounded hurt for some reason.

"I just don't think you should do that." I rushed out a bit harsher than I wanted. Shit, I think that came out wrong.

Bella's chin jutted out her hip cocked to the side.

"That's fine, I get it, I'm not good enough or something, right? Okay, well I won't bother you again." She said and turned on her heel, walking out the door so fast I didn't have a chance to stop her.

I was left standing there gaping like a fish out of water. What the hell did she mean? _She wasn't good enough_? That's bullshit. I stopped her because I believed she was _too _good to do that. I was practically a complete stranger to her and she was on her knees in front of me, unzipping my pants? Did she do that with every guy that she took back here? Was it a requirement as her job?

I took a few minutes to recover before I walked back into the main part of the club. I spotted Emmett and Jasper still up in the VIP lounge with a couple of girls and Felix, James and Demitri were sitting next to the stage, waving bills at the girl on stage.

I walked over to Em and Jasper, scanning the club for any sign of Bella, but I didn't see her anywhere.

"Hey man, you have fun back there with that hot brunette?" Emmett called.

"Uh yeah." I mumbled distractedly.

"Sit down and tell us all about it." Emmett said, shoving a twenty dollar bill into the top of the blonde girl in his lap, patting her leg. She got up and sashayed away form him, winking at me as she passed.

"Just the usual stuff." I said.

"I didn't know that you knew what the usual stuff entailed, Ed." Em said with a smile on his face. He thought he was so smart. And he was right, damnit. I figured I could ask them if what Bella had tried to do back there was normal.

"Okay fine, we didn't do anything. Can I ask you guys something?"

Em and Jasper nodded.

"Well, she tried to um….undo my pants and…"

"Give you a blowjob?" Jasper finished for me.

"Yeah. Is that normal?" I said.

"It's normal, that's what those back rooms are for. Although you're not allowed to actually have sex, but you can do pretty much anything else back there." Jasper said.

So she had just been doing her job. Why did it bother me so much to see Bella on her knees? And why did the thought of Bella doing that to someone else send a wave a rage through me?

I didn't say anything else to Em and Jasper, just downing my beer and asking the waitress for a another one and a shot of tequila. Thankfully they took the hint and busied themselves with other stuff.

I had just finished my third beer when I looked toward the stage and saw Bella draped across James's lap. She was running her fingers up and down his chest and whispering something in his ear. He nodded enthusiastically and Bella stood up, James following her. They walked back to the hallway that she had taken me. She was taking him in one of the private rooms to do god knows what with him. The thought of her kneeling in front of James like she had with me, her wide chocolate eyes staring up at him as she….. I couldn't finish the thought, but what I had already imagined made me see red. My fists were clenching together and I was grinding my teeth together.

_What are you thinking Edward? She's not your girlfriend or anything, you don't even know her. This is her job after all, she does this every night_. Okay, that wasn't helping.

But why did I feel this way about her? She wasn't anyone to me. Something drew me to her though. Was it her eyes? Her voice, that made her seem so vulnerable, that held a hint of fear as she looked up at me? I wanted to know why she was afraid of me, had I done something? I needed to know about that and everything else about her.

I wasn't even aware that I had gotten up from my chair, completely ignoring the half naked women, and was walking toward the hallway. I stopped in front of the first door I came to and stopped abruptly. This was stupid, I didn't have a right to barge in there like that. I sighed and was about to turn around when I heard someone inside yelling, it was muffled and couldn't make it out, so I pressed my ear against the door to hear better.

"Get off me, asshole! You're not supposed to do this!" I heard Bella yell.

I pushed the door open and if I thought I was angry earlier, I was completely blinded with rage now.

James was on top of Bella, pinning her down on the bed in the middle of the room. She was squirming around and trying to push him off of her, but he wasn't moving. I could see that he had one of his hands down the front of her underwear and the other was trying to hold her wrists down.

I moved across the room like a blur, with one mission in mind; to kill James for doing that to Bella.

I grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him back off of her. I glanced down at her to make sure she wasn't seriously injured. There were tears running down her cheeks, the makeup around her eyes was smeared, before I could see anything else, she curled up in a ball and was staring behind me. I turned in time to see James getting up and coming after me, I side stepped him and grabbed the back of his shirt again, this time throwing him into the wall, I turned him around and started laying punch after punch into his stomach. He collapsed to the ground and just went down with him, laying into his face. Blood covered his face and my hand, but I didn't stop. Until I heard the scared, watery, voice of Bella.

"E-Edward stop, you're g-gonna kill him." She cried.

I froze, looking over at her. She was sitting up in the bed with her legs tucked under her, tears still running down her face and her hand was stretching out to me.

I released James and he slumped down unconscious.

I stood up slowly and walked over to Bella.

"Are you okay?" I asked lowly, trying not to scare her.

"I'm fine. Thank you, but you didn't need to do that." She wiped her face and sniffled.

"What do you mean I didn't have to do that? He was about to rape you." I said angrily.

"Wouldn't be the first time." She mumbled, trying to stand up, but she lost her balance and fell into me. I wrapped my arms around her small body and held her to me, not letting her go.

"You can let me go Edward." She said, trying to jerk away from me.

"I'm not letting you go yet. Are you okay, did he hurt you?" I asked, assessing her for any damage.

"I said I'm fine." She growled at me, shoving on my chest. I released her and she stepped away from me, but made sure to avoid James's unmoving body.

"Look, thanks for this, but I should get back out there and finish my shift." She said as she stumbled to the door. I cut in front of her to stop her.

"You're not going anywhere. I'm a doctor Bella, please let me look at you." I begged her.

"No." She said stubbornly, stepping around me. I reached out and grabbed her arm out of instinct and she flinched away from me.

"Please let me go." She whispered, looking at me with fear in her eyes again. I couldn't take that look, it killed me that she looked at me like that. James had just tried to rape her and she was afraid of _me_? This girl was so confusing.

"I'm sorry, but I just want to make sure that you aren't seriously injured." I let go of her arm.

Suddenly, she turned on me, with a fury in her eyes I didn't know that someone so small could possess.

"Oh yeah? You think you can come in here and swoop in and save me and I'll be thankful and fall all over you? Well guess what fucker, it ain't gonna happen. It's not that easy." Bella snarled at me.

I was caught off guard by her outburst and wasn't ready when she stumbled forward once and collapsed to the floor. I knelt down next to her and checked her pulse, it was too fast, she had started to go into shock but fainted first. Her mind must not have been able to handle all the stress.

Great, now I had a beaten up asshole that was now my ex-friend, and an unconscious stripper in the same room with me. What the hell was I going to do? I know what I wanted to do; I wanted to leave James here to bleed out all over the place and I wanted to take Bella back to my place so I could make sure she would be alright. So that's what I was going to do.

I shook my jacket off and wrapped it around Bella and picked her up, cradling her bridal style in my arms and walked out the door. I looked around, I knew I couldn't take her out the front door, everyone would see me, so I had to look for a back door and pray a security guard wasn't on the other side. Emmett said they weren't too tight on security around here, I prayed he was right.

I walked through the hallways until I came to a metal door with a red neon exit sign above it. I slowly pushed the door open, relieved to find that no one was behind it. I realized that I couldn't take Emmett's Jeep, so I flagged down a cab the best I could, hoping that the half naked, unconscious girl in my arms didn't raise any questions.

A cab finally pulled up next to me and I opened to the door and slid in carefully, telling the driver the address to my house. He didn't say anything to me, but I saw him looking back at me in his rearview mirror a few times, but I just ignored him, instead choosing to study Bella's face.

She was paler than before, her mahogany hair tangled slightly, her face streaked with tears and her lips were swollen and bruised. _Probably from James_, I thought angrily.

I seethed silently as I held onto her tightly in my lap, waiting for the cab to reach my house.

The cab pulled up and I handed him a wad of bills and stepped out without a word. I was sure it was almost double what my fair was, but I didn't care, maybe it would keep him quiet about this.

I struggled with getting my front door unlocked, trying not to jostle her too much, afraid she would wake up. I got the door unlocked and carried her in carefully, closing and locking the door behind me.

I thought about where I should lay here down, I didn't want to put her on the couch, too uncomfortable, my bed was probably the best place. So I took her up the winding staircase and into my bedroom, pulling the sheets back and laying her down.

I let out a deep breathe and ran my hands through my hair, scrubbing at my face harshly. This was going to be one hell of a night.

**A/N: **

**Okay, this is just the first chapter, I'm already working on the second chapter with Bella POV. **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think, if I should keep going or stop because it's horrible or something. I need feedback, please. I'll even give you a teaser. **

**Thank you for reading and remember that a review gets you a teaser. **


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